Hometown: Naperville, IL
Major: Biology, pre-med track, minor in Spanish

Role in Group: undergrad research assistant, currently Emily is mentoring me and getting me started with beginners' projects.

Why UIowa?
Iowa has a great health care program and chemistry/biology departments so I knew this would be a good place for me to go.

Why this Group?
I chose this research group because of my interest in chemistry and the environment, so the topic of converting excess CO2 in the atmosphere to liquid fuels for energy was something I knoew I would enjoy being a part of. When I met with other graduate students in the group and began research, I liked the working environment and how everyone was willing to teach me/help me learn about the project.

What makes you passionate about your work?
I enjoy chemistry and how it is widely applicable to many every-day processes, and every time I come to research, I am always learning more about chemistry and where it can be applied which makes me very passionate about continuing to learn and eventually work more individually in the group.

What work activity do you enjoy the most?
I enjoy crafting the molecular structures of different molecules in IQmol to see their optimal geometries and working in iTerm a lot as it is new to me but very interesting.